Villierstown

Villierstown is one of the estate villages in Ireland that was built in the mid-18th century by John Fitzgerald Villiers, 5th Viscount and 1st Earl Grandison to house the weavers and other personnel needed for his new linen industry. The village was initially populated with linen-weavers, some of whom were from Lurgan in Co.Armagh. There were to be twenty-four houses in all, each with a garden, and also a school house for boys and girls as well as a church, a rectory, a court house, a police barracks and a quay on the river. All of these buildings are still in the village today, the church has been converted to a community hall and on its grounds is the Villiers-Stuart’s family burial vault where many of its ancestors are buried.

It is charming, peaceful place with the houses built on either side of a very wide street which had lodges and gates at either end and forms almost a processional way into the demesne of Dromana House. Dromana House and Gardens is located a short distance away and is open to the public.